POLST Paradigm Advance Care Planning Course: Last Steps™ ACP
The POLST (Physician Orders for Life-sustaining Treatment) Paradigm Advance Care Planning Course, or Last Steps Advance Care Planning, has three components
- online POLST curriculum
- facilitator certification
- instructor certification.
The course focuses on communication skills— initiating POLST conversations, assisting in making informed end-of-life decisions, and learning techniques to create POLST plans. The successful implementation of a POLST program must be complemented by professionals who have developed the necessary communication skills to initiate advance care planning discussions that help individuals establish medical and non-medical goals of care.
The POLST system for documenting and communicating an individual’s decisions for end-of-life care as they approach the last year of life has become recognized as best practice in the care of frail elders and those living in long-term care facilities. These individuals require a different approach to ACP, in essence, a Last Steps ACP conversation that assists them to examine their goals of care as they enter the last stages of their lives. Life-sustaining treatment decisions must be specific and include options for hospitalization and the provision of comfort care. POLST-trained facilitators are often social workers or nurses responsible for developing plans of care for residents of long-term care facilities, home health, or hospice. Without an emphasis on the importance of ACP discussions and qualified facilitators, implementation of the POLST form runs the risk of repeating the failures of past standard AD efforts that have focused only on form completion (Teno, 1998).
POLST Advance Care Planning Facilitator Certification (Day 1)
The successful implementation of a POLST program must be complemented by professionals who have developed the necessary communication skills to initiate advance care planning discussions that help individuals establish medical and non-medical goals of care. Professional skills include understanding end-of-life treatment options, benefits and burdens, and building decision-making consensus among family members and the healthcare team. These skills often do not come naturally for professionals who provide individualized assistance in making difficult and challenging end-of-life decisions.
POLST ACP Facilitator Certification is intended for nurses, intermediate to advanced social workers, physicians, clergy, and others involved in assisting patients and residents in making end-of-life treatment decisions. The purpose of this program is to improve the effectiveness of the POLST paradigm program through facilitation skills training and RC certification. The skills include initiating POLST conversations, assisting in making informed end-of-life decisions, and learning techniques to create POLST plans.
Objectives
1. Describe the purpose of the POLST paradigm program
2. Identify skills to initiate POLST-type discussions with persons with life-limiting illness, their healthcare agents, and loved ones
3. Identify skills that assist in making informed end-of-life decisions
4. Practice POLST-type discussions in role-play exercises
5. Identify techniques to create a POLST document that accurately reflects a person’s treatment decisions
Prerequisite: Respecting Choices Advance Care Planning POLST Online curriculum, a series of four modules designed to prepare the participant for a robust classroom experience.
POLST Advance Care Planning Instructor Certification (Day 2)**
POLST ACP Instructor Certification is intended for healthcare educators and other professionals (nurses, social workers, clergy, physicians) interested in becoming certified to replicate the POLST ACP Facilitator Certification. The purpose of this program is to prepare participants to become certified as Respecting Choices POLST Instructors. The course is designed for intermediate and advanced level social work practice.
Objectives
1. Identify four strategies for teaching the POLST ACP Facilitator Certification course
2. Participate in instructor-led discussions on common questions and concerns about POLST
3. Complete the POLST instructor certification exam
4. Participate in role-play demonstrations with faculty and group feedback
**Registration Requirements. In order to attend POLST ACP Instructor Certification, the healthcare or community organization(s) the instructor candidate represents (or instructors themselves, if attending independently) must commit through a written agreement to replicate the standardized RC POLST curriculum. The standardized curriculum includes online learning and cannot be modified or customized. Please contact Matthew Isbell at 800-362-9567, ext. 54887 or mrisbell@gundluth.org for more information.
Prerequisite: Respecting Choices Advance Care Planning POLST Online curriculum and POLST Day 1.
To find out how to bring the Respecting Choices POLST Course to your facility, please contact Matthew Isbell at 800-362-9567, ext. 54887, or mrisbell@gundluth.org
